These MBA programs blend real-world small-business know-how with top academics.

Why we chose it: A legacy of the great steel entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie Mellon remains a place where new business ideas are valued. One in eight of its 10,000 undergrads and graduate students is studying entrepreneurship. "Its engineering department, which collaborates with the business school, is a national powerhouse," says Jeanne Liedtka, associate professor of business administration at University of Virginia. Success at Carnegie Mellon is not dependent upon creating a viable business, but rather on recognizing the lessons of those that fail. "Students want to know how they will be graded," says Professor Arthur A. Boni at the Tepper School. "But in entrepreneurship, there's no right or wrong answer."